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William Sharp
William Louis "Billy" Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer currently playing as a striker, for Sheffield United. Career Sheff Utd Sharp started at Rotherham United as a schoolboy in the Academy after leaving his Sunday league team, but opted to join the Sheffield United Academy after Rotherham turned him away. Sharp signed for Sheffield United as a schoolboy in 2002 but, after leaving the Academy, he failed to establish himself in manager Neil Warnock's squad. He made only two brief substitute appearances for United, the second and final of which coming in the last game of the 2004-2005 season. In January 2005, he went on loan to Rushden and Diamonds. Despite playing only 16 games Sharp became a very popular figure Scoring 9 goals, one of them a last minute winner in the 3-2 win over local rivals Northampton Town, he helped prevent the club being relegated. Scunthorpe After returning from his loan spell, Sharp made two substitute appearances for Sheffield United before he was sold to Scunthorpe United for £100,000 in August 2005. He soon became a firm favourite at Glanford Park scoring 24 goals in his first season with the league one club. Sharp scored the 50th goal of his career in the 2-0 win at Carlisle United on 9 December 2006. He was featured on ITV's The Championship, and Scunthorpe United chairman Steve Wharton claimed he would reject a bid of £2 million for Sharp. Sharp broke the Iron's 45 year old club record for most goals scored in a season on 28 April 2007. Barrie Thomas was the previous holder. Sharp netted 30 times in the league in the 2006-07 season guiding his team to promotion into the Coca Cola Championship. This was the highest total in the 4 leagues of England. He scored a header in the televised defeat to Aston Villa, which only served to enhance his reputation across the nation. In all, he scored 56 goals in 95 games for Scunthorpe during his two seasons at Glanford Park. With his goalscoring feats in the 2006–07 season, there was predictable interest from other clubs in Sharp, and a number of clubs made bids for the striker as the season ended. Return Ultimately, lifelong Blades fan Sharp rejoined Sheffield United on 4 July 2007 for a fee of around £2 million, a deal that also saw Sheffield United's Jonathan Forte transferred to Scunthorpe. Sharp was allocated the number 24 shirt. Sharp made his full Sheffield United first team debut in the opening game of the 2007–08 season, a 2–2 draw with Colchester United. He scored his first competitive goals for the club in September, scoring two against Morecambe in a 5-0 third round Carling Cup victory but had to wait until March to score his first league goal, in a 2-1 win at home against Coventry City. After finally breaking his duck he went on to score three more times before the end of the season. Sharp started the 2008–09 season brightly, scoring a perfect hat-trick (header, right foot, left foot) in the Blades' first home game, against Queens Park Rangers. He scored the equaliser in a 1-1 home draw to Coventry a few weeks later, but that proved to be his last league goal of the season. Sharp did score twice more in the FA Cup including a goal against Hull City during a fifth-round replay. During the same game, Sharp was incorrectly booked for diving by referee Peter Walton who later apologised for his mistake. With the club rebuilding the team following their failure to gain promotion, Sharp was placed on the transfer list in July 2009. Doncaster Rovers Sharp was constantly linked with moves to both Doncaster and Notts County over the summer of 2009, and on transfer deadline day he signed for Doncaster on a season-long loan. His first goal for the club came against his former club Scunthorpe United on 26 September 2009. He then scored against Peterborough United on 20 October and bagged a brace against Blackpool on 31 October. He then scored the first in a 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers. He is fast becoming a hero to the Rovers supporters. He added to his tally with a consolation goal in the 4-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest. Sharp also scored away to Crystal Palace and home to Sheffield Wednesday in the first week of December. Sharp then got the winner as he scored the only goal against Bristol City and then scored again scored in Doncaster's 2-0 win over Derby County, this was his 10th of the Season. His excellent form resulted in him winning the PFA Championship Player of the Month award for December 2009 and led to speculation that Rovers would try to sign him on a permanent basis. He returned to Sheffield United at the end of the 09-10 campaign. Statistics Honours *'Doncaster Rovers Golden Boot' **2009/2010 *'Scunthorpe United Golden Boot' **2005/2006, 2006/2007 *'''League One Team of the Year **2005/2006, 2006/2007 Trivia *Billy is 1.75m. Category:Top scorers Category:Loanees Category:O'Driscoll Category:2009/10 Category:Strikers